Aug. 2014 issue

Beneath the Surface

Find us on Facebook as: Eastern Iowa Pond Society www.EIPS.org

In this newsletter:

July meeting info...….…..1

Meeting Minutes………..2-6

Barley Straw ……..……...7-8

DIY a Skimmer grid…….9-11

Quinn Pond……………..12

EIPS Friendship Award...13

Membership form……...14

Contact Information:

Find us on the web at:

www.EIPS.org or

on Facebook

President: Jeff Garner,

550-6893

Eipspres2014@aol.com

VP : Jackie Allsup 934-3665

Sec.: Linda Nolan 363-9408

Tress.:Gary Hunerdosse-

364-6627

Next meeting…POTLUCK

AUGUST 23RD, 5:30

LINDA AND TIM NOLAN’S

2055 H AVE. NE

CEDAR RAPIDS,

WITH SPECIAL GUEST SPEAKER

JAMIE BEYER

Beautiful Fish for Water Gardens

(AKA—Goldfish)

Time’s Fun When You’re Having Flies!

On the Cover: Frog photo by Lora Lee Gelles and taken from Pond Trade Magazine.

JULY 26, 2014 EIPS MEETING

@ DAVE KELLER'S HOME

Members Present: 23 plus 4 guests

Dave began our meeting by telling us about his pond and filtration system.

He kindly showed us his impressive system and answered many questions.

Thanks Dave!

Jackie had new members, or past members coming back, introduce them-

selves. Terry Brannian and her friend Dean Smith and Don Quinn. Don

said he had been a member four years ago and was returning. He has a

1500 gallon pond in Cedar Rapids. Terry stated she didn't have one yet

but was very interested. Welcome Terry & Don!!

Old Business:

Reunion meeting. We had a wonderful speaker from Chicago and even

though it was a rainy, windy day we had 35 members/past members in at-

tendance.

July Pond Tour information: We brought in $1443, had $992 in expenses

with a profit of $450.00.

Treasurer's Report: $3439 in checking/savings.

Jackie began a discussion on how much $$ we wanted to donate to the

Honors Flight. This is in addition to our $500 scholarship donation to

Kirkwood. Linda N. made a motion to donate enough for two flights.

This would be approximately $1050.00. The motion was seconded by

Rose M., and with a show of hands it was passed with only one opposing

vote. Everyone felt it was a good tour!

We had a discussion on Fish Foods used and other fun stuff we feed our

fish (oranges, sweet potatoes, watermelon) It was noted that if a good

quality fish food is being used, that additional foods are not necessary, this

is simply for our pleasure!

New Business:

It was reported that Ellen Kloubec presented A Friendship Award in honor

of EIPS

at the Chicago Koi Show. Thank you Ellen!!

Brucemore Packet. Did anyone get one this year? It would be an applica-

tion and information to be in the Garden Show in August. With not know-

ing if we've been invited, we may or may not be participating this year.

We talked how our ponds are doing this summer. A few health issues were

discussed.

Next Meeting:

- Saturday August 23rd @ 5:30 PM at the Nolan Pond, 2055 H Avenue

N.E.,

Cedar Rapids.

- Guest Speaker: Jamie Beyers

Pot Luck – Nolans will furnish hot dogs, buns, plates and plastic wear.

Some

drinks will be available but if you have a favorite, bring it and a chair.

Jackie wrapped up the meeting and invited everyone to partake in our

wonderful potluck. Dave provided lemonade and pulled pork. No one left

hungry – our potlucks are the best!!

To finish up the meeting Dave then brought out some of his wonderful

snakes and let everyone touch them that wanted to. Next up he brought

out snake eggs that were ready to hatch and carefully cut them open so we

could see the snakes inside. Quite entertaining and informative. Thanks

Dave!

Submitted by Linda Nolan, Sec.

Dave’s other hobby is raising Pythons. He

brought a few out for everyone to see, touch,

and interact with. Below, Rose gets to feel an

egg with a baby snake in it. (Notice how Rose

is excited about it while Rosie’s face says, she’s

not so sure about it!!) Above, Dave cuts into an

egg that is due to hatch just to show us the

.baby inside.

Barley Straw The LOVE YOUR POND blog is written by Mike Gannon of Full Service Aquatics. Mike is a professional pond builde

Barley Straw the newest old time remedy for algae con-

trol in modern ponds and water gardens! Barley straw has gotten some good buzz in the pond industry the last few years as a

natural remedy for algae control, but this “new” product actually has some history

behind it, besides allowing us to enjoy frosty beers on the weekends! For hundreds

of years barley straw has been in use as a method to control unwanted algae growth

in ponds; and the roots of this type of use can be traced back to Europe when farm-

ing and agriculture was still how most made their livings. Did they ever envision that

their methods would end up being used in modern day backyard ponds?

Farm ponds and ground water reservoirs in Europe, and elsewhere of course, could

often develop problematic algae growths and the employment of barley straw to the

water was a popular and effective way to control this unwanted algae growth for

farmers. In its’ earliest uses barley straw would be bundled into bales and placed,

mostly submerged, along the shoreline of ponds on the upwind side of the pond. As

the barley straw broke down the wind would help to distribute the “algae treatment”.

Later, and currently, the barley straw would be placed inside of netting tethered with

a float to allow water to flow through it without being completely submerged

What would happen when these methods were used is that the partially submerged

barley straw with exposure to moisture and oxygen, would decompose (rots!). Dur-

ing decomposition, chemical compounds are released into the water; these com-

pounds can greatly inhibit algae growth of filamentous and other forms of algae

that commonly occur in ponds. For the traditional use of barley straw applications

it can take from 2 weeks to 6 weeks for the decomposition to occur depending on

factors such as water temperature, oxygen levels, and water movement. Some addi-

tional but often overlooked benefits of barley straw may include: long term algae

control as the barley slowly breaks down, non-chemical treatment with no docu-

mented negative effect to fish, water fowl, or humans, improved gill function with

many fish, increased invertebrate population which provides a food source for fish.

For our modern day ponds it is considerably easier for the pond owner to enjoy the

benefits of barley straw and it is pretty unlikely that a modern pond owner will ev-

er have to lug a bale of barley straw around. These days barley is readily available

and can be found in prepackaged floating mini bales for ponds, it can be found in

pelleted form, and even a liquid barley straw extract has made it convenient and af-

fordable for the pond owner to control their algae without expensive chemicals.

Nowadays barley straw treatments can be found at most pond retail stores or online

pond retailers.

From my personal experiences with barley straw I have had mixed results with the

floating bundles and pelleted forms of barley straw, they both are more sensitive to

HOW they are used and placed in the pond. If they are not placed in just the right

area they may not perform very well or not at all. I do really like the liquid extract

and have seen good results. The liquid extract is also very easy to use as it comes

in a pump dispenser bottle and has a good shelf life. I like to apply the liquid ex-

tract in the waterfall or skimmer area of my pond so it mixes quickly and evenly

throughout the pond. When using the floating bales I like to keep them to the side

of the pond, partially submerged, where there is decent water flow. Completely

submerging the mini bales will reduce their effectiveness so avoid that temptation

if you are trying to hide them from view in your pond. The pelleted form can be

placed into a filter or skimmer when bagged, or spread into the body of the pond to

break down.

The function of the barley is still the same, as is the goal in using it, but today’s

consumer can get that “old time remedy” at just about any pond product store or

online without cultivating acres of barley straw! Sometimes the old ways are still

the best ways. Have you had any experiences with using barley straw? Let me

know about it.

QUICK SKIMMER GRID PROJECT

Submitted by: Tim Nolan So you got some new little fishes, maybe some small Koi, or some tiny Goldfish, and they won't stay out of the skimmer. It happens, just seems like it takes some fish longer than others to figure out that they need to stay out of that box! You need to get yourself some peace of mind and make a skimmer grid to use until they are big enough to be able to fight that current that might pull them into the skimmer box. Here is a quick and easy way to do that that works with any standard

type skimmer that has a window opening of 8x8 inches or less. Our

skimmer window measures approximately 6 inches wide and 6 inches

high. While searching through the Ace Hardware store for a suitable

piece of material to make a quick screen or grid, I was directed by the

Helpful Hardware Woman to the Grill Mark nonstick grill basket. It's a

two piece hinged grilling accessory used to hold difficult to cook piec-

es of food on your barbecue grill. This item has a nice grid structure

that measures 8 inches by 8 inches. The openings in the grid are just 1

inch wide, which allows for pretty good flow through while

keeping most small fish from venturing into the box. Yes, you will have to do some occasional clearing of debris from the front of the grid but that's a small price to pay for protecting your show quality baby Butterfly Koi don't ya think? The cooking basket was only $6.99 and with the addition of a piece of strapping metal, and some screws that were just lying around in the garage, I had the remedy for the problem with minimal investment of money and time. Not only that, but you only use one half of the basket to make one grid. So you can give the other half to a friend and help them make a skimmer grid for their pond!

The pictures are pretty much self explanatory. You just measure the dis-tance where you need to make a bend in the handle of one piece of the basket, put it in a vice and gently bend in over 90 degrees. Then you po-sition it on the skimmer lid while it is in use, place the metal strap over the straight part of the handle, and screw it to the skimmer lid. This can be only as snug as needed which allows for some adjustment play.

Once you get it in the correct position for your skimmer window you can easily pick up the lid with the grid attached to clean out your skimmer as usual. The whole thing can be removed when your little fish get big enough, or can be left in place indefinitely. We use a flower box to sit on top of the skimmer, hiding the lid and dressing up the space just a bit. Simple, easy, quick and cheap. Get some peace of mind and make yourself one!

I love the helpful Hardware Store!!

Returning pond club mem-bers, Don and Andi share a picture of their backyard. They have 1 small pond in which the bio-fall empties into. From that 6 ft. pond, 2 streams (each about 18ft.long) go around a small planting area and their waterfalls empty into their bigger pond (18 ft long and 10.5 ft wide). Their pond holds 1500 gal-lons and is home to 20-12+inch koi and about 10-12 baby koi of various siz-es.

Don and Andi Quinn’s Pond

At the recent MPKS koi show in Chicago on July 11-13, Ellen

Kloubec was kind enough to present a “Friendship Award” in the

name of EIPS!! The club has done this in the past, but Ellen took

upon herself to act as our ambassador of friendship. Friendship

awards are given out at koi shows across the country by other clubs

as a sign of support for having koi shows and all the education that

goes along with them. Whom ever presents the award is allowed to

pick out any fish being shown for any reason and give them the

award. The koi that was chosen was a stunning Doitsu Ochiba

Shigure. It is a blue/gray with a very interesting brown/golden

pattern. This particular koi was selected because the markings were

very artistic and reminded them of a world map!

Thank you, Ellen for doing that for us.

Eastern Iowa Pond Society, Inc.

Membership Application

To become a member of the Eastern Iowa Pond Society, Complete this form and mail

along with your dues to:

Eastern Iowa Pond Society

% Gary Hunerdosse

306 Red Fox Rd. SE

Cedar Rapids, IA 52403

————————————————————————————

___ New Membership ___ Renew Membership

Name: _______________________________________________________

Address: _____________________________________________________

Phone Number: ______________ E-mail Address: ____________________

Dues are $10.00 per calendar year per family. Make checks payable to Eastern Iowa

Pond Society, Inc. ALL newsletters can now be found on line at www. EIPS.org

Free to a good home: 20-30 Goldfish, call Evelynn in Waterloo.

319-232-5644. She also has tons of mini cattails if you want to

come and get them.

Eastern Iowa Pond Society

Our Mission Statement:

The purpose of the Association shall be to create, promote

and enlarge the hobbies of ponds, aquatic gardening, and

keeping, breeding, appreciating, and exhibiting the wonderful

world of fish.

The Association shall disseminate information about t he

above to the membership to engage in educational and social

activities related to our purposes; and to acquire and own such

property as may be necessary for any or all of the fore going

purposes.

Eastern Iowa Pond Society

Jackie Allsup, Editor

PO Box 148

Quasqueton, IA 52326